Australians destroy key bases

Australian special forces have taken out two of Saddam Hussein's command and control centres.

They have also killed some of his most elite soldiers.

The 500-strong Australian Special Forces Task Group includes commandos, specialist troops trained to deal with weapons of mass destruction, Chinook CH-47 helicopters and an SAS squadron operating deep inside Iraq.

They were flown to a forward base by C130 Hercules transporters and have already fought groups from Saddam's Special Security Organisation and the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

Two Iraqi command and control centres for ballistic missile systems and anti-special forces operations were destroyed.

Australian F/A-18 Hornet fighters have also targeted tanks and a barracks from the air.

National commander Brigadier Maurie McNarn, speaking at Allied Central Command in Qatar, said: "Equipment and vehicles were destroyed and people were killed. There have been no Australian casualties."

He said the regular Iraqi army was providing much less opposition than the specialist operatives the SAS had come up against.

Meanwhile, US ground forces have started targeting the elite Iraqi Republican Guard that ring Baghdad.

They launched helicopter attacks last night against the Guard's Medina division, a senior military official said.